City Planners 'Deeply Concerned' As BBG Towers Proposal Kicks Off

CROWN HEIGHTS, BROOKLYN — City planners warned that a controversial proposal for two towers near the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens is likely a "non-starter" even as its application entered the land use review process on Monday.

The City Planning Commission officially certified the 960 Franklin Ave. rezoning proposal on Monday, marking the start of its journey through the review process known as ULURP.

But the certification — a largely ceremonial step noting the application is submitted and complete — came with a disclaimer from top planning officials that signals the proposal likely won't see the light of day.

"Although the department finds the application is technically complete and thus ready to certify, I want to assure the commission that department staff have repeatedly conveyed...concerns to the private applicant," Chair Marisa Largo, the director of the City Planning Department, said before certifying the application. "...Let me be clear, the department does not support this private application."

Largo specifically said the towers, both more than 30 stories, would be "grossly out-of-scale" with the rest of the neighborhood and echoed concerns of local activists that they would cast shadows on the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens.

The towers would leave the gardens, which need consistent sunlight, in the shadows for up to three hours a day depending on the time of year, according to an analysis of the plan. BBG and other Brooklyn leaders urged the Commission on Monday not to certify the application.

Mayor Bill de Blasio also recently came out against the Franklin Avenue development, which has been in the works for nearly two years.

The proposal most recently faced a lawsuit from local opponents of the plans, which delayed the certification with a temporary restraining order that was ultimately was thrown out. The lawsuit is still being reviewed by the courts.

Other City Planning commissioners said Monday they agreed with Largo's concerns about the proposal, including one commissioner who said the application is among the worst she has seen in her 10 years on the commission.

"I have never seen an environmental impact statement with such a stark, scary description of open space impacts, not only on the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens, but also on the playground," Commissioner Anna Hayes Levin said, referring to the nearby Jackie Robinson Playground.

"This is the first time I can remember sitting on this commission where I'm confronted with information in the EIS that suggests that the should just be a non-starter."

Levin added that nevertheless, the ULURP process is meant to "let the public tell us what we think before we say what we think" and that she expects robust feedback as it moves through ULURP.

Now that it's certified, the Franklin Avenue proposal will head to the local community board, before facing the Brooklyn Borough President and the City Planning Commission for official review.